Touching is Believing: Brazil’s Blind Football Team Experiences the FIFA World Cup Trophy

Only FIFA
World Cup champions and heads of state are allowed to touch the
solid-gold symbol of world football supremacy. But last fall, FIFA granted a one-time exception and made the impossible possible for a very deserving group of players: Brazil's National
Team for 5-a-side visually disabled football.

Coca-Cola and FIFA surprised the team -- which has won three consecutive IBSA (International Blind Sports Federation) World Blind
Football Championships and Paralympic Games gold medals -- in
September by bringing the FIFA World Cup trophy to their training facility near
Rio de Janeiro.

“Just as Brazil is a very diverse and inclusive
country and
Coca-Cola is the world’s most democratic drink, we believe the World Cup
experience
belongs to everyone,” said David Campbell, global content director,
Coca-Cola. “With this film, we're applying the innocent and surprising
spirit
of ‘Where Will Happiness Strike Next’ and bringing the FIFA World Cup
trophy to people and communities who embody and positive ideals of
football.

Campbell continues, "As we all
know, visually disabled people experience the world through
touch, so we partnered with FIFA to grant an exception to the FIFA World
Cup trophy regulations so these players might ‘see’ the trophy with
their own hands
for the first time.”

The 3-minute video shows the players approaching the trophy in a single-file line with
their hands on the shoulders of the teammate in front of him.

“That magical moment you see on camera is authentic,” Campbell
adds. “They were genuinely surprised… they didn’t know what was in front of
them. It was incredibly moving to see the expressions on their faces go from
excitement, to realization, to disbelief, to sheer joy. There were very few dry
eyes on the set that day.”

Ricardo Alves (far left) and his teammates touch the FIFA World Cup trophy.

The film features Ricardo Alves, who could see for the first six years of his life
before his world suddenly went dark. Despite losing his sight, he never
lost hope.

“When I told people I dreamed of being a professional
football player, they laughed at me and said it was impossible for a blind guy
to play football. The difficulties of life are there not
to prevent you from doing things, but to be overcome,” said the 24-year-old midfielder, who lives in Porto
Alegre.

Alves did just that, honing his skills and eventually joining a
football league with fellow blind players. He now captains Brazil’s
world-champion team and recently was named the sport’s top player. “When I discovered blind football, it was as if I’d been
given a second chance,” he says.

Pulling off the stunt -- and keeping it under wraps --
wasn’t easy. FIFA and Coca-Cola had to conduct thorough security sweeps in
advance without becoming the talk of the town, and the film crew needed to both
execute a detailed plan and be prepared to pivot in real time during the
two-day shoot.

“You have to be nimble and roll with it on projects like
this one,” says John Carey, who directed the spot.

Carey, whose previous work includes Dove’s award-winning “Real Beauty
Sketches, is known for fusing cinematic artistry with the authenticity and
emotional heft of documentary filmmaking.
He said Alves’ story of resilience and against-all-odds optimism made
him the perfect protagonist.

“I want my work to have the visual spectacle, sound devices
and lyricism of a movie, but also to feel believable and genuine,” Carey said.
“I also want to share advice or wisdom with the audience… which I think this
film does. When I show it to my family and friends, they get emotional because
they see the truth in Ricardo and the other players’ eyes.”

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